The CHL Daily News

CHL RACES TIGHT AND SO ARE BANK OF MONTREAL MASTERCARD TOP 10 RANKINGS

The races for top spots in the Canadian Hockey League are very tight as theregular season winds down, as is the race for top spots in the Bank ofMontreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings.

The top three spots in Week 21 of the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10rankings remain the same as last week, as selected by a panel of NationalHockey League scouts. But there was a lot of movement on the rest of thelist, with just one more week of rankings to come for this season.

Just four points separate the top four teams in the Ontario Hockey League,while the top four teams in the Western Hockey League are just seven pointsapart. As a result, the overall Top 10 rankings saw quite a bit of movementthis past week.

Red Deer Rebels (43-18-6-1) of the WHL are still ranked number one, despitelosing two of three games this past week. Their lead in the WHL overallstandings is down to one point over the Swift Current Broncos, who move upfrom sixth place to fourth place this week with a 40-17-5-7 record afterwinning three games and picking up another point from an overtime loss thispast week.

Plymouth Whalers (38-15-10-2) of the OHL remain ranked second, going 1-0-2in three games this week to hang on to the overall OHL points lead. Thered-hot Erie Otters have won 10 straight games and as a result, appear inthe Bank of Montreal MasterCard Top 10 rankings for the sixth time thisseason, jumping into sixth spot after being unranked since Week 8. Erie wonfour games this past week alone.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan (44-16-4-5) of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguewon once and lost twice in overtime this week, to remain first overall inthe QMJHL and third in the weekly Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10rankings. Shawinigan (41-19-5-3) lost both games this week to slip fromfourth into fifth place, just ahead of the surging Otters.

Moving up into seventh position from ninth place are the Brandon WheatKings, who are tied for third place in the WHL standings with the ReginaPats. But the Wheat Kings have three more victories, giving them the lead inthe WHL’s East Division standings and seventh spot on the list, while thePats barely slipped out of the Top 10 this week.

In eighth spot are the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario HockeyLeague, who went 2-1-0 this week to move ahead of Sault Ste. Marie intothird place in the OHL overall standings. The Majors were ranked 10th lastweek while the Greyhounds, who were ranked fifth, slipped back down to ninthafter a 1-1-1 week.

In 10th spot were the Cape Breton Oilers of the QMJHL, who moved into theBank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings for the first time thisseason. The Regina Pats of the WHL and the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL,ranked seventh and eighth last week, barely missed out on making the Top 10this week.

The complete list from Week 21 of the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10rankings follows. The rankings can also be found at www.chl.ca every week.The final edition of the Top 10 for this season will be published next week.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE

There are no games in the WHL on Monday night.

Heading into this week’s action, Nathan Barrett of Lethbridge continues tolead the WHL scoring derby, but his lead is down to just one point overMedicine Hat’s Joffrey Lupul. Barrett has 44 goals and 60 assists for 104points, one more than Lupul (54-49-103). Eric Johansson of Tri-City(44-53-97), Tyler Beechey of Calgary (43-53-96) and Lethbridge’s JeremyJackson (38-51-89) round out the top five WHL scorers.

Rookie Cam Ward of Red Deer still has the best goals against average in theWHL at 2.26, along with a save percentage of .910, which ties him for fourthplace in that category. Regina’s Josh Harding is second in GAA (2.35, .908save percentage), followed by Shane Bendera of Kelowna (2.50, .911). BarryBrust of Spokane (2.59, .912) and David Parley of Kamloops (2.74, .918)round out the top five GAA’s in the WHL. Parley’s save percentage is thebest in the league.

The Red Deer Rebels (43-18-6-1) continue to cling to first place in the WHLoverall standings and the Central Division with 93 points, but their lead isdown to just point over the Swift Current Broncos (40-17-5-7). In the EastDivision, the Brandon Wheat Kings (40-22-4-2) have tied the Regina Pats(37-19-4-8) for first place with 86 points.

In the Western Conference, the Kamloops Blazers (37-23-5-4) have seen theirlead in the B.C. Division cut to just three points over the Kootenay Ice(37-26-6-0). The Blazers have lost three straight while the Ice has won fourin a row. In the U.S. Division, the Portland Winter Hawks (35-23-5-5) have athree-point lead on the Spokane Chiefs.

The WHL regular season schedule ends March 19.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE

There are no games in the OHL on Monday night.

The Plymouth Whalers (38-15-10-2) continue to lead the OHL overall standingsand the West Division standings with 88 points. The Sault Ste. MarieGreyhounds (37-18-10-0) are just four points back in the West, but there arejust three games left for both teams. The Erie Otters (40-20-4-1) have won10 in a row and are leading the Midwest Division by seven points with 85points, with the Kitchener Rangers (34-22-9-1) second in that division.

In the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa 67’s (35-19-10-1) have 81 points,three ahead of the Belleville Bulls. In the Central Division, the TorontoSt. Michael’s Majors have 85 points (38-18-8-1), two up on the Barrie Colts(36-19-9-2).

Nathan Robinson of the Belleville Bulls (46-62-108) has a five-point leadatop the OHL scoring derby over teammate Mike Renzi (42-61-103). Sarnia’sKris Newbury (41-60-101) is third, followed by Jason Spezza of Belleville(39-60-99) and Erie’s Cory Pecker (53-44-97).

Peter Budaj of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors is the leading goalie in theOHL with a goals against average of 2.33 and a save percentage of .921, bothtops in the OHL. Jason Bacashihua of Plymouth (2.38, .919), David Chant ofBarrie (2.55, .920), Sault Ste. Marie’s Ray Emery (2.70, .915) and ChrisHoule of London (2.83, .909) round out the top five OHL goalies.

The OHL regular season ends March 17.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

There are no games in the QMJHL Monday night.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan (44-16-4-5) have all but clinched first placeoverall in the QMJHL with 97 points, good for a 10-point lead in theMaritimes Division standings of the Dilio Conference over the Cape BretonOilers (37-20-9-4). In the East Division, Chicoutimi (38-25-1-4) has aone-point lead on Baie-Comeau as the season winds down.

In the Lebel Conference, the Hull Olympiques (29-29-3-6) lead the WestDivision by four points over the Val-d’Or Foreurs (27-32-5-4). In the CentreDivision, Shawinigan (41-19-5-3) has a 10-point lead on Victoriaville(37-25-5-1) with only four games remaining.

Shawinigan’s Olivier Michaud has the best goals against average in theleague with a 2.35 mark, along with a save percentage of .890. Dany Dallaireof Halifax is second at 2.55 and a save percentage of .914, which is tieshim for the best percentage in the league. Marc-Andre Fleury of Cape Breton(2.82, .914), Adam Russo of Acadie-Bathurst (2.82, .901) and GhyslainRousseau of Baie-Comeau (3.14, .899) round out the top five regular QMJHLgoalies.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard of Chicoutimi leads the QMJHL scoring derby with 42goals and 88 assists for 130 points, followed by Yanick Lehoux ofBaie-Comeau (55-69-124) and Victoriaville’s Matthew Lombardi (52-72-124).Jonathan Bellemare of Shawinigan (38-85-123) and Jason Pominville, also ofShawinigan (57-63-120), round out the top five scorers.

The QMJHL regular season ends March 19.

For complete QMJHL statistics, check out the league’s official website.

Jason Spezza named OHL Player of the Week

Toronto – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Belleville Bullscentre Jason Spezza is the OHL Player of the Week for the week ending SundayMarch 10, 2002. Spezza recorded five goals and five assists for 10 points inthree game last week

Spezza recorded his second eight point game of the season Saturday nightagainst the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors when he scored four goals and fourassists in a 9-6 win. The eight point game equaled a team record establishedby Dan Quinn in 1983 and equaled by Jason Lafreniere in 1985 Brad Gratton in1987 and Spezza on February 9.

In the 23 games since joining the Bulls in January, Spezza, the secondoverall pick of the Ottawa Senators in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, has scored20 goals and 34 assists for 54 points. He has been named OHL Player of theWeek four times this season.

Spezza, an 18-year-old native of Etobicoke, improved his season totals to 39goals and 60 assists for 99 points in 50 games. He is currently fourth amongOHL scorers this season.

OHL Launches “Live Stats” Web Site

Toronto – Beginning March 12, Ontario Hockey League media and fans will havethe opportunity to follow OHL games as they happen using the new “LiveStats” feature of the league’s official Web site –www.ontariohockeyleague.com.

Each game for the balance of the 2001-02 regular season and throughout the2002 OHL Playoffs will be entered into the Web site “live” as it happensfrom the arena, updating the game summary and full player and teamstatistics on the site.

“The traffic on our Web site has been growing rapidly during the past threeyears,” said OHL Director of Information Aaron Bell. “Our research clearlyshows that visitors to our site are looking for game summaries andstatistics. This new system provides that key information on a much quickerbasis and gives fans of the OHL a unique opportunity to follow all of ourgames as they happen.”

The OHL Web site currently attracts over 900,000 page views per month, anumber which is expected to increase dramatically with the new live gameinformation.

The OHL has partnered with Toronto-based multimedia company CommercialDesign in this new venture. Commercial Design was responsible for developingthe software required to operate the new stats system, as well as the newdesign of the league’s Web site.

“We are very excited about working with the Ontario Hockey League on thisproject,” said Cary Moretti, General Manager, Commercial Design. “I thinkthat the fans of the OHL will find this new system adds an all-new elementto the way they follow the Ontario Hockey League.”

Rogers Digital Cable is the title sponsor of the OHL “Live Stats” feature onthe Web site. Rogers offers NHL Centre Ice with over 1000 games per seasonand Rogers Television provides the most extensive OHL television coveragewith over 180 games per season.

“We are very excited to be part of this new initiative,” said Michael Allen,Vice President, Programming Rogers Cable. “It provides us with anopportunity to be part of an innovative new method of communication to OHLfans.”

The new statistics system is currently in its final testing stages with theOHL teams and will be available live on the Internet beginning March 12.